I recently had this conversation with some of our techs, and when I asked one why he thought he got spec pay, he jokingly answered "Because the Army taught me Ohm's law".
Wright and a Sig Op, I think you guys are a little off the mark here when it comes to the Sig Op vs. LCIS trades. The line between the two is getting very, VERY blurred.
a Sig Op, I will grant you that what we were trained to do on our 3's and 5's, pretty much any trained monkey can do. Wright, I will grant you that your trade's training is a lot more technical-specific than ours.
That being said...
I am going on 8 months in theater in a Section that is composed of half LCIS and half Sig Ops. And for the last 8 months, we have all been doing the same job
as each other. And I don't mean we've just been doing GD.
Techs are sighting in satellite systems and LOS systems. Sig Ops are heavily involved in the programming of routers and switches, managing multiple networks. We have both been running and terminating fiber and copper line. We have both been using spectrum analyzers.
I have gone from dismounted ops one day, to programming and installing routers and switches the next, operating the CP, to setting up an HCLOS, troubleshooting IP issues on networks, to calling in CAS, to cabling an entire TOC for multiple networks, to lining up someones CFRT, to doing gate shift, to troubleshooting vehicle comms, to replacing comms wiring in vehicles, etc.
This isn't to brag, but to state that both trades have been blurred to the point where people don't know what trade we are. I've flown into sites where I have been known as "The Sig", "The Tech", and "The Lineman". And in many of the places I've been to, you cannot afford to say "Oh, I'm not trained to do that, I'm not a Sig Op/Lineman/Tech
It doesn't irk me that LCIS Techs get Spec Pay. What irks me is that the system is placing demands on the other tradesmen, often giving us the equipment without the benefit of training beyond a 2-week Cisco Switches and Routers, operating, maintaining, and troubleshooting Nationwide networks, and saying I'm not getting the same pay as someone who is the same rank as me, has the same TI as me, is doing the same JOB as me....but the army trained him to do it, so he's getting spec pay.
And this is not isolated the theater. We all have to face it. The C&E AOR has become so convoluted that we ARE dipping into each others pools.
Will the MES fix it? Not at first, of this I'm certain. Will it help in the separation of workload. Maybe. Or will it just be a way for the empires to be reestablished (Only CIS guys do that). I dunno
Sure, I love green kit. I'm a dumb "push button, talk in magic green box, sky rain fire" Rad Op at heart. But the evolution of the equipment is at a point where you have to understand COTS, you have to understand the principles of Networking, IPs, subnetting, oh my.
I know I'll never see it, but personally, I think Spec Pay in our Branch should be position-based, like jump pay. If you're using it, sure. If a Sig Op is doing a job that has traditionally been Spec, give it to him. If a tech goes to a Recruiting Center or position where he isn't using his knowledge, cease spec pay.
That's my .02, anyway.
Wright said:
That is not what all techs do, don't get me wrong, a basic tech starts off with that skillset. however, compared to civi side, techs are underpaid.
How about program a cisco router switch, fault find an ehsd kit, TCI's, Data comms, Fiber, Alcatel mux's, heavy det, light det, vpn kits,
I dont think i need to keep going, i could spend all day listing the kit that is needed to know.
The amount of knowledge, training, and skills required to do a techs job is well worth the deserved pay.
I agree, there are alot of sig ops out there that actually believed the recruiter and took a sig op position, that could definetly pass for techs, and there are alot of techs that should not be techs, that leaked there way through the cracks.